Beater Truck

[Nizmo]

Small update; this thing is starting to turn into a daily driver it seems. Nighttime visibility is meh at best and going up and down the mountain can be challenging with adverse conditions and fog. An upgraded pair of headlights aren`t much better than what`s on there now so I decided to do some Amazon shopping.

Added a 20" LED light bar facing downward as to not blind other drivers. But man does it work!

Wired the trigger source off the tail-lights so it will only come on with the lights. The bar installation itself was easy, but the wiring took me half the day to make it look neat and not a cobbled mess!

It works!

Total cost for light, wiring harness/relay, wire loom, and connectors was $60.

I`ve posted this to a couple other places, but I know a couple of you have liked the updates to the old truck. I seem to have the oil consumption issue under control now. Seems if you run the crap out of it and not grandma it doesn`t consume much oil. Transmission is still iffy; I changed the oil out of it a while back and just what I thought, tiny bits of brass from the syncro`s were floating in the old fluid. Double-clutching doesn`t bother me really.

 

[Accumulator]

Small update; this thing is starting to turn into a daily driver it seems....

Heh heh, yeah...the appeal of a non-Autopian beater

That was an inventive approach, the LED bar.

..I`ve posted this to a couple other places, but I know a couple of you have liked the updates to the old truck...

Absolutely! More interesting to me than something I don`t consider a, uhm...real-life vehicle.

Double-clutching doesn`t bother me really.

I say people oughta do that anyhow. IMO Synchros get asked to do more than they`re really designed to do thus they seldom seem to last the life of the vehicle, at least not in most people`s hands.

 

[Nizmo]

Ugh, typical sight...

Heh-heh, nah. Thought I was having thermostat issues since the temp gauge was reading lower than I`m used to, or remember from last year. So today it got a new thermostat, hoses, temperature sensor, and of course a fill and spill on the Dex-cool coolant. The hoses turned out to be original (September 1998, la mierda!) so it wasn`t a bad thing. Temp didn`t read any different, but the heater did seem to work better.

Nice and toasty:

PS, don`t ask me where that speed limit sign came from...

 

[Accumulator]

Nizmo- Sounds like it was good to get the new hoses no matter what, and I bet some of the other stuff was ready too. You keep pluggin` away at it and you might not think of it as a "beater truck" any more

 

[Nizmo]

With winter approaching I`ll try and drive it as much as possible to avoid salt on the GTI or Camry.

I did do my first "ghetto mod" today. There is an air baffle that was attached to the intake tubing. The seal was too rotten when I busted it loose to reuse it. 2" rubber plumbing connector and an 1-1/2" pvc cap. Not trying for any performance gains, just too cheap (and in a hurry to wait) for a new seal.

 

[Nizmo]

*sigh*

Here we go. Yup that`s coolant...

 

[Stokdgs]

Mi Amigo !
I am so sorry to see that..

Looked on YouTube and saw some 2000 year S10`s that had to have the entire dashboard loosened up and almost out, to get behind it to remove the heater core... Now I am really sick..

The 2000 S10 heater core on YouTube has it right in the middle of the dash and way up high on the firewall..
Well, you can always just run a pipe between the 2 heater hoses to bypass it until you get to that little (?), fun (?), job..

Hopefully, you have A/C and it might help keep the inside windshield clear a little bit..

Good Luck !
Dan F

 

[Nizmo]

Yea I gotta pull the whole thing. There`s a shop in town that only has a 45/hr labor rate, but they`re booked up for a while. The other shop I got to does flat rate work based off Mitchell, which books 9 hours. That would be about $900 parts and labor, which is about what the trucks worth. I could just bypass it, but here in Central PA, heat is a must, especially when the snow flies. Not how I wanted to spend my vacation next week.

 

[Stokdgs]

Yea I gotta pull the whole thing. There`s a shop in town that only has a 45/hr labor rate, but they`re booked up for a while. The other shop I got to does flat rate work based off Mitchell, which books 9 hours. That would be about $900 parts and labor, which is about what the trucks worth. I could just bypass it, but here in Central PA, heat is a must, especially when the snow flies. Not how I wanted to spend my vacation next week.

Well, perhaps its just leaking at the hose connections at the firewall, that would really be lucky..

If you looked at Y/Tube, there are a lot of videos there with guys pulling the dash all loose so they can just squeeze behind the center part of it and get that dang heater core out.. One guy even labeled all the things to look out for while he did it, on the video..

I think the only way to not forget all those screws and things would be to somehow video the entire disassembly, so you could have a reference..

After all the work you have done to bring that baby up from near death, it`s a shame to let it all go now..
And, where do you find the time with Christmas next Monday, then New Years, etc...

Is there any kind of "stop leak" stuff out there that might help hold it together for a bit until you have the time to do it ??

We are sending lots of prayers of faith out to you, you will need them..
Dan F

 

[Nizmo]

One the thermostat opens up it leaks inside like a siv. I`m pretty confident the core is blown. Seems it was on borrowed time and was just waiting for the right opportunity to fail. It gets run HARD up the mountain, all 90 crank HP is screaming the entire way. Actually had a loaded semi pass me the other day going up the mountain...

The underhood part is a little bit easier being a 4 cylinder; you can get to 2 out of the 3 bolts easier. The one in the AC box will still be a pain, but I have small hands. Although being a manual the gearshift assembly will have to come out. It needs a new bushing anyways.

As far as stop leak, there`s two things stopping me on that. One it seems it popped pretty good, larger than a pin-hole. Seems they like to fail around the welded fittings. Two I just redid most of the cooling system and would rather not have that gunk floating in my system.

Honestly at this point I would rather it have been a head gasket that these motors are known for. Would give me a chance to replace all 8 lifters that are worn.

After this job I think I`ll have to go to confession, lol. I plan on lots of pictures and maybe a small video log, just something for me to look on. Although it will probably wind-up NSFW:lmfao

 

[nickclark08]

Good luck on the repair - Even if NSFW the videos should be entertaining

 

[Stokdgs]

Nizmo -
You had me laughing so much I accidentally clicked "dislike" - please ignore that mis-type...

Well see, you already have the right attitude going in to this when its time !

And yes, there may be a few strong words, but there are probably enough Navy guys on here that can top anything out there, right ?

Sounds like your pre-inspection results points to the "big job" vs something easier, sigh...

Well, when you are done and healed up from all the contortion acrobatic work, look how much stronger and more flexible you will be !!!
AND - no on else for miles can say they have done what you just did..

Me, if I could afford it, I would go the $45/hr guy, if I could wait it out..

We are here for ya` !
Dan F

 

[Nizmo]

Well it went better than I thought, about 5 hours. Didn`t get as many pictures as I would have liked, but I kept on rolling. The old core was definitely shot.

Most everything removed I needed to here, all that was left was some bolts on the bottom.

Removed the last bolt and it came loose in a hurry!

I thought I was going to be able to just barely slide back the dash to access the box. No dice, so I wound up removing the radio and HVAC controls along with a bunch of other connectors. Finally was able to get enough clearance.

That was the easy part! Pictured below is a bracket I had to remove in order to get to a bolt on the firewall. Then removing that bolt took about 20 minutes in itself!

Looking at all the Youtube videos it seemed nobody removed the lower bolt and was able to gently tilt the box back. Yea nope, I broke the bolt tabs on the bottom. No turning back now, I was able to slide the old core out and put the new one in. Luckily the top bolts on the firewall supported the box ok. Wiped out the box the best I could, but I`m just going to have to smell coolant for a while.

Almost buttoned up, amazingly no left over screws!

I did replace the foam on the core itself, as it was soaking wet and scrunched down. There was also a piece (as seen hanging on the door) that came off the box. All in all it wasn`t too bad, not something I`d want to do again. The defrost vent cover on top of the dash was already cracked up, so removing it done it in. I`ll have to order a new one, but it isn`t really that much of a priority right now. I thought the heat worked good before, but it works even better now. It seems the low temperature issue has gone away now, don`t know what was up with that. Still think there`s a little bit of air that has to work itself out.

 

[Stokdgs]

Nizmo !
Merry Christmas, man !!

Wow - an amazing job - you Killed It !!!
Congratulations on a huge amount of detailed work there - And you didn`t have any left over parts !!

I looked at a bunch of those Youtube videos too, and saw that many people now had multiple problems getting all those dash controls working again..
I think if one has no mechanical skills beforehand and tries that huge job, it would have to go badly if they just started yanking and pulling at things and eventually disconnected or broke connections back there..

Glad you have it back together so fast !
Get on the S-10 website and you can probably make a lot of money doing this for others..
Well, on second thought...

Great work, man ! I am so proud of you !
Dan F

 

[Nizmo]

Thanks Dan!

There`s actually a couple things the Youtube videos don`t show, but a little common sense will get you there. I figured the under-hood portion would be easier being a 4 cylinder, but not the case. Thinking about it now the engine is a little longer. Even with the engine bracket removed it took forever to get that bolt out. I don`t have a 10mm ratchet wrench, but I will now! The bracket served no purpose so I didn`t re-install it. The vacuum mode selector seems a little slower now, but all the moving around I was doing with it, it could have a small vacuum leak. It works for now, so I`ll look at it in the spring. Everything else works as intended. Drove the truck around for about 1/2 an hour and all seemed well. Final verdict will be going up the mountain tomorrow when I bring the torpedo heater back to work.

 

[Accumulator]

Nizmo- Oh man, that sure sounds like a job-o`-work! Congrats on getting it done.

 

[Nizmo]

Small update. Apparently I didn`t sand the bottoms too well during my paint job, and with the less than stellar paint that shrunk, well you can see...

The black smears is the chip-guard I applied.

And it only took 1.5 years, but my quick to pass inspection rust fix is getting bad.

This spring will most likely see a rocker replacement. Far as repainting the truck again, if I plan on doing it, it would be late summer again. I would go with good ol` single stage instead of the base/clear. Looks just as good and cheaper. Far as the paint peeling, I`m not surprised. I didn`t do it to the best of my abilities, completely my fault. The cheap paint did shrink, so it didn`t help the matter. If I were to repaint it again I would likely dis-assemble the truck. It seems the lower part is the only issue so I might even use the body lines for a contrasting color rather than an over-all. I do plan on using POR-15 on the frame and underneath though. The Jeep needs this done as well.

As for 2wd in the winter and snow, well...

That`s my traction, lol. Along with a Detroit locker it does fairly decent.

 

[Accumulator]

..I do plan on using POR-15 on the frame and underneath though...

I`d *STRONGLY* encourage you to use something like KBS RustSeal instead of POR15..."when I`m only gonna fix it once and it has to stay fixed..." Paint-Over-Rust products have come a long way since POR15.

That`s my traction, lol. Along with a Detroit locker it does fairly decent.

Detroit Locker? Not just a regular limited slip? I thought Lockers had issues with low speed turns on the street, but my only experience with them was on off-roaders.

 

[Nizmo]

Detroit Locker? Not just a regular limited slip? I thought Lockers had issues with low speed turns on the street, but my only experience with them was on off-roaders.

Heh, yea an actual locker. Previous owner did it. It`s a real bear to drive on the street if you`re not real careful. I have to rotate tires every 1,000 miles because of the scrubbing. The driveline gets ABUSED because of the popping and banging. I think the u-joints are going to get done when I overhaul the front brakes this spring. I think it would be a hoot with a V8, because you can rev it and dump the clutch and it will just hook! You wouldn`t expect a 90 hp truck to do full drift mode, but in the rain it`s like something out of a Initial D anime. If you`re careful in the snow it will motor right on, but if you hoon on it, well hold on. I was already told not to go back to a certain parking lot...

 

[Accumulator]

Nizmo- Heh heh, OK...sounds about as I`d expected for a (genuine) Locker! Yikes, I`d get all spendy and replace that with a regular LSD before something critical decides enough is enough But then that`s what always happens with my Beaters...sooner or later there`s so much [everything] invested in `em that they`re not "Beaters" to me any more